There is a lot of money being thrown at infrastructure around the country to move the economy along. But is it the right infrastructure in the right areas for the right reasons?
One of the biggest problems in determining the answer is a lack of data – and the lack of a consistent and transparent way of measuring available data to make evidence-based decisions.
Without standardisation it is difficult to compare, benchmark or integrate information. People just aren’t speaking the same language or are reluctant to learn how to communicate.
A conference in Melbourne recently, State of the Cities: Unlocking the Data, highlighted how critical good research data is to the success of cities. Data is not merely facts and figures, used properly it can enable improvements in three key areas:
- Productivity
- Liveability
- Sustainability
But what is being done to ensure that an evidence-based system for collecting, compiling and sharing essential data is adopted across the board?
Government departments have in the past been opposed to giving out information, stating privacy issues or concerns that the data would be used inaccurately.
However, the more information is publicly accessible the greater the opportunity to be efficient and proactive; the greater the opportunity for collaboration and innovation.
This is particularly important for long-term sustainability. To get an accurate and holistic picture of the sustainability of everything from housing and employment to the environment (and how they interact), you need a better understanding of indicators, how they should be measured and compared.
It is all very well, for example, to proclaim Perth or Melbourne as one of the world’s most liveable cities, but why is it so? Such statements regularly grab the headlines but there is little if any discussion of how the researchers reached that conclusion. What measures did they use? What does the data really say? Is it an accurate assessment?
There are many different people and bodies gathering data but no real central governance of the issue that is so critical to our future. Infrastructure Australia, the Federal Government’s new national approach to the development and implementation of infrastructure, is a step in the right direction. Funding for the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRC-SI) will be another important step.
But it is vital that everyone comes on board, and understands the value of quality, timely data – to make good decisions and to measure society’s progress.
